[8] The Survivors

[Piper Juunanagou]

“Wow,” Piper muttered as she slowly made her way down the cobblestone road. As she progressed forward, her eyes were continually scanning the myriad buildings that lined both sides of the pathways. “I wish I had enough spare money to fritter away on stupid thinks like building cities inside of mountains,” the redhead remarked to herself as she came to a stop in front of a small clothing outlet.

Shrugging her shoulders, Piper ascended the small set of stone stairs and made her way through the open doorway. As she walked into the store, she quickly realized that she had become the center of attention for the small number of people milling about in the boutique. Fortunately for the medic, she excelled at ignoring people, and with a stoic look of indifference upon her dirty, haggard features, she strolled right to the rear of the store.

“Just great,” Piper found herself mumbling as she scanned the ranks and circular stands of clothes. The vast majority of the store’s apparel consisted of grotesquely short shorts, shirt without backs or midriffs, or blouses cut so low down the chest that Piper had to wonder how anyone could ever accrue the audacity necessary to wear one in public. “Whores R’ Us,” the woman sighed as she pushed aside a row of skimpy t-shirts and pivoted to leave the store; however, when she turned around, there was an overly cheery woman staring right at her.

“May I help you?” The shop attendant asked as she flashed Piper the most unnaturally white set of teeth she had ever seen.

“I’m just browsing,” the medic mumbled as she tried to slowly make her way around the smiling woman. With each tense step that Piper took to escape, the woman tilted her head to follow her—never once losing that Cheshire grin from her face. “Thanks you, though,” Piper added tensely as she sprung forward. She managed to get two steps before she bumped into another smiling store worker.

“Was this what you were shopping for?” The second woman asked as she produced a full set of military fatigues from behind her back. The outfit was exactly the same as the one Piper was wearing, even down to the buttons and the stitching design. With a look of mild horror on her face, the medic reached out an accepted the heavy-duty hanger upon which the cheery attendant had hung the outfit.

“T-t-thank you,” Piper mumbled as she quickly began to scan the store for the changing rooms.

“They’re right over there,” the woman in front of the redhead chimed as she pointed one of her unsightly long, acrylic fingernails toward a row of small cubicles that lined the other side of the store. With a nod of her head, Piper quickly sprinted away from the pair of workers and made a direct bee-line toward the changing stands. As she ran, she could hear the click-clack of the women’s’ high heels behind her.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god,” Piper muttered frantically as she slipped through the door and latched it shut behind her. With a sigh of relief, the medic plopped down onto the long, wall-mounted plastic seat that lay along the right wall of the room. In front of the woman was a larger mirror that took up the entire wall. “Do I really look like that?” The medic whispered despondently as she ran a hand through her mangled, unkempt hair.

It’s a wonder Kaden’s kept you along for this long. A voice within the woman’s subconscious remarked. You must look like an old, dilapidated crone compared to Sophia or those other girls.

“Oh shut up,” Piper said with a groan as she let her head loll back against the cool wall of the changing room. For a moment, the woman just sat there and listened to the soft sounds of breathing that filled the room. And then, suddenly, the redhead realized that something about all that soft, subtle noise wasn’t altogether right. “Wait a moment,” she muttered as she momentarily stopped breathing. For a second, there was nothing, and then Piper realized that someone was still breathing.

Rolling her head and upper body forward, the woman turned her attention to the door of the changing room. The flap-like plastic doorway was similar to one that someone would find in a bathroom, where it didn’t reach all the way to the ground. A knot began to form in the woman’s stomach as she slowly leaned forward, until she could see beneath the door. She continued to lower her head until she found herself face-to-face with both of the shop’s attendants, who were still smiling their excessive smiles.

“May we help you with anything, ma’am?” They asked in unison as the color drained from Piper’s countenance.

“Fucking fuck shit!” Piper screamed violently as she reared away from the door and slammed loudly against the back wall of the changing room. “Get me a brush and some nail paint,” the medic shouted as she tried to contain her urges to kick the door down and strangle both of the horrifyingly creepy women to death.

“Anything you would like, ma’am,” they replied as Piper listened to the clicking of their heels upon the linoleum floor grow further and further away until silence once again reigned the tiny room.

With the utmost urgency, Piper quickly shed her burned, bloodied clothing and tossed them over the top of the changing area. Once she was down to her undergarments, the medic proceeded to dress herself in the new set of fatigues. By the time the clerks returned with a brush, Piper had just finished buttoning her shirt and was swiftly lacing up her boots.

“Thank you,” the redhead said as she reached down and took the brush from the perfectly manicured hand. Even after the clerk had pulled her hand back from inside the room, Piper noted that both of them were still standing right outside the door.

I hate you, Kai Demolic. Piper assured herself mentally as she ran the brush through her unkempt head of hair. After thirty of so passes, the woman was content enough that she tossed the comb onto the sitting ledge and proceeded to tie her hair into ponytail.

“I think I’m done in here,” the medic said out loud as she smiled at her reflection. Although she still needed to shower (or at least clean her face), Piper was confident that she didn’t look quite as disheveled and grimy as she had ten minutes prior.

“Why yes…yes you are, ma’am,” the two women spoke in tandem as Piper heard a pair of soft clicks. With a frown on her face, the redhead teleported from the room just as it was ripped apart by a hail of bullets. Back outside the small cubicle, Piper materialized back into existence and grabbed both of the women by the sides’ of their heads.

“Thanks for giving me an excuse to do this,” she muttered as she smacked the two heads of the women together. A beat later, Piper relinquished her grip and let the unconscious attendants collapse into piles on the linoleum floor. “I’ll take these as well,” the medic muttered as she collected the two Uzis that were now lying on the ground. After clicking off the guns’ safeties, Piper tucked them between her belt and her pants.

“I need to shower,” the woman muttered as she turned away from the two fallen women and casually made her way through the boutique.